Max Verstappen, from the Netherlands, driving for Red Bull Racing, took the lead at the beginning of the race. This happened on April 21, 2024, during the Chinese Grand Prix, which is part of the Formula 1 World Championship. The race took place in Shanghai, China.
Carlos Sainz believes that Charles Leclerc’s defensive maneuver at the start of the Chinese Grand Prix had a clear impact on the race time of both Ferrari drivers. Ferrari expected that their stronger race pace would allow Leclerc and Sainz, who started sixth and seventh on the grid, to compete for a place on the podium. However, Leclerc’s maneuver caused both drivers to fall behind George Russell from Mercedes and Nico Hulkenberg from Haas when they reached Turn 1 on the first lap.
Leclerc took advantage of a Virtual Safety Car period to pit and secure fourth place with a one-stop strategy. On the other hand, Sainz had to continue his stint without pitting, compromising his race plan. Despite this setback, Sainz managed to salvage fifth place and expressed satisfaction with the result considering the circumstances.
Sainz acknowledged that their pace during the race was not enough to achieve a better position than fifth. He also mentioned the poor start they had, losing two positions in Turns 1 and 2. From that point on, they were playing catch up. Sainz explained that they had to make an early stop to put on hard tires and then continue with a one-stop strategy from lap 18. He admitted that they pushed the hard tires as much as they could, but it was clear they were not making significant progress. However, given the car’s performance throughout the weekend and the decisions they made, Sainz believed that fifth place was the best they could achieve.
The incident between the two Ferrari drivers during the Sprint race at the beginning of the weekend was mentioned, with Leclerc describing Sainz’s driving as “beyond the limit.” When asked if the defensive move at the start of the Chinese Grand Prix was a retaliation to that incident, Sainz chose not to comment directly, but acknowledged that it cost them two positions and did not benefit either of them.
The Safety Car intervention brought Leclerc closer to Lando Norris, but he couldn’t keep up with the pace of the McLaren driver and ended up falling behind Sergio Perez. Sainz admitted that McLaren was simply stronger throughout the weekend, both in qualifying and in the race. He acknowledged that there will be circuits where Ferrari will perform better and others where McLaren will have the advantage. Sainz expressed hope for future updates that may provide more performance.
